It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 2:04 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Wax Potting Pickups
Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2014 2:57 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:57 am
Posts: 224
I have several pickups and they all seemed to be slightly microphonic, some worse than others, I had two Epiphone humbuckers that did ok at low volumes, an old Teisco single coil that squealed real bad at almost any volume under distortion settings, and a set of DiMarzio D-Activator X humbuckers,. I potted all these pickups and re-installed them into my guitars, the Teisco pickup turned out Ok although when I tap on the body of the guitar I can hear it through the amp, the squealing is gone though so overall seems to be a success, I'm thinking that my understanding of microphonics may be a bit fuzzy, I have always been under the impression that a properly potted pickup should only pickup the strings breaking the magnetic field, that you should not be able to hear anything through the amp by tapping on the pickup or the body of the guitar, basically I just wanted to hear from other players if this is normal or not, I believe that these pickups are potted at this point, there were no more bubbles coming up in the pot, I heated the wax to 150 degrees and soaked my pickups in the wax for 20 minutes and saw no more air bubbles, if they need to go back in the wax bath so be it, but I am thinking that nothing can be done about the pickups picking up the tapping on the guitars body, If I did it wrong by chance and this is not normal let me know please


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Wax Potting Pickups
Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2014 11:42 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am
Posts: 14049
Location: Province de Québec, Canada
Some pickup need wax potting because some mecanical parts inside move and sound microphonic .

Sound captation still the same as a no waxed pickup

This wrong :

" , I have always been under the impression that a properly potted pickup should only pickup the strings breaking the magnetic field, that you should not be able to hear anything through the amp by tapping on the pickup or the body of the guitar, basically I just wanted to hear from other players if this is normal or not, "


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wax Potting Pickups
Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2014 5:50 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:57 am
Posts: 224
stratele52 wrote:
Sound captation still the same as a no waxed pickup
ok thanks for the reply, so you are saying that any pickup will pickup the sound of tapping the body of the guitar ? really I just need to know if I need to give this another go, I still have the wax and it wouldn't be a problem for me to pot them again if need be


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wax Potting Pickups
Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 2:28 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am
Posts: 14049
Location: Province de Québec, Canada
Kreature wrote:
stratele52 wrote:
Sound captation still the same as a no waxed pickup
ok thanks for the reply, so you are saying that any pickup will pickup the sound of tapping the body of the guitar ?

Yes it is normal , pickups hear any vibration

really I just need to know if I need to give this another go, I still have the wax and it wouldn't be a problem for me to pot them again if need be


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wax Potting Pickups
Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 3:40 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:57 am
Posts: 224
thanks again, just for good measure I went ahead and gave them another soak, there were more air bubbles that came out of them, so maybe I didn't do a thorough job the first go round, also the first time I potted them I let the wax drip off of the pickups back into the pot before I placed them on the paper towel and I didn't let them sit overnight before I put them back in my guitars, so I suspect that may have caused a slight issue, This time I set the plate and paper towels right next to the pot and didn't drip off the excess wax, I plan to let them sit overnight clean em up and then install them and hope for better results, if it doesn't work out exactly as I wish this time I'm just gonna leave them be, I'm thinking that I did a better job this time


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: